lunes, 6 de diciembre de 2010

December 2, 2010

PUBLIC OPINION

A week after the crackdown in the community Qom (Toba) La Primavera, eight armed natives tried to kill another indigenous leader in the province of Formosa.

Carlos Lopez, a member of the Community qom 503 (Department Patiño), left his home yesterday morning to go fishing in a lagoon that goes every day, located a few miles from home. When I was about to return was intercepted by eight persons, among whom she recognized "Chingolo" Albornoz, the town mechanic Estanislao del Campo. Without a word he was assaulted physically.

According to the report of Valentine Smith, leader of Qom Riacho de Oro is headed for the Community 503 to collect the testimony of the victim, the natives attempted to drown, "struggled, hit him with punches and kicks," said Suarez- and Carlos threw his bag of fish to the pond to defend themselves. Anyone tried to touch but was grabbed by the neck and hands. They took the clothes, stripped. It was there that he was put into water to drown and he got deeper in order to save. When there was more, caught one of her attackers and got deeper with him. Then the other attackers retreated to the beach. " Suarez continues the story giving details of when they tried to kill with guns, "Albornóz, went to where he parked his truck.There he took his gun and pointed it to the lagoon where it was Carlos. Other natives were on the beach and with guns pointed at him too. " Because one of the natives was located in a place where white unintentionally interfered it was the body of Lopez, the rest will be run screaming. "Upon hearing this," continues Suarez, Carlos took it as a shield to defend against imminent fire "and dragged him into water, which prevented them unload their weapons. Once the natives retreated, Lopez released him. After the failed attempt, the attackers withdrew, leaving the leader Qom in the lagoon without any of their belongings. Lopez came to his house completely naked, beaten, weak and neck scratched. His brothers received and, once he recovered, went to the village police station 503 to make the report. Upon arrival they found the premises locked, with no agent received.

As happens not only in the spring but also in other communities across the country, the Community 503 has no title to their land.The lake to go fishing often is within the space losqom recognized as ancestral land, a pond used since time immemorial to Qom ancestors who came to seek their food. By mid 1980, Lt. Rivira sent bulldozers in order to make farms for the Indians in the area.With the increasing of the Bermejo River in 1985, who had settled there lost their homes and farms and settled a few miles of the lagoon. It was then that Hector Amarga, a people person, occupied this land. Claiming they were his property, closed the entrances to the lagoon with lock and not allow anymore than 503 Indigenous Community fished there.

Native Communities Council of Formosa report this fact to another líderqom violence and believes that aggression toward Lopez is not an isolated incident, but the application of a systematic policy of the governor of Formosa, with the complicity of the Minister of Justice of the Province . The attempted murder of Carlos Lopez, the assassination of indigenous leader Mario Lopez (hit by one of the police officers heading toward the wake of the officer who died in the Spring) Estanislao del Campo in the same day of repression and the seven Felix Diaz bullets aimed at by police and civilians on horseback who shouted "Indian shit, we'll kill you", as he defended himself with the slingshot used since childhood to hunt birds for consumption, reflect a planned maneuver to weaken the indigenous struggle in Formosa. Not only aimed at silencing the impact of the slaughter on Tuesday November 23, but also to undermine the claims of title to ancestral lands covered in one of the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples: the right to "possession and ownership of traditionally occupied lands ", as reads the Constitution (Art. 75 inc. 17).

Researchers at the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), professors from various national and international universities, and students from across the country that we have repudiated the repression of Qom of Spring, we demand an investigation into these acts of violence and death . Demand the application of Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to which our country joined by National Law 24,071, National Law 26,160 land survey and other regulations. By this, we again offer our knowledge and research experience for the Argentine state, including the status of Formosa, guarantees the rights of indigenous communities who are fighting for their territories, for his memoir and history, generations that preceded them and why they happen: for their lives.

INTERVIEWS IN BUENOS AIRES: 03717-553927 PAN AUDEN

FORMOSA INTERVIEWS: 03716-616408 SUAREZ VALENTINE

THE COMPLAINT WAS MADE AS TO THE OFFICE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL